Kids forever!
by jojoangel01
Summary: Alternative 'what if' story. After the end of the Black Organisation, what happens if there exists no antidote? Deals also with Shinichis feelings for Ran. Final chapter is up now, plus epilogue! Let me stun you! Hehe! Please read and review! S R 4ever
1. Unbearable loss

Kids forever?!?!  
  
Chapter 1  
  
The moon shone, huge and full, down at the earth, the stars could be seen very clearly tonight and sometimes there were a few clouds fogging the sight of the beautiful night sky. Though, it was awfully cold today. The wind send cold breezes throughout the alleys and streets, letting passengers freeze and shudder. These last nights in Tokyo seemed to be even colder then usual. They seemed to be bewitched by some kind of dark magic.  
  
In the middle of the moons territory, a huge house throned proudly. In the direct moonlight it almost send shivers to everybody who saw it. It`s been some time that the kids started calling it the ghost house and none of them would dare approach it. They`ve heared the wildest stories about the owner of that house, a strange young boy, living all alone in this mansion with a huge amount of the strangest books there were. But it`s been years since anybody had heared anything of him. Some say, he had killed his parents and burryed them in the cellar of the house, then killed himself. Others say, he had a deal with the devil to destroy humanity but the devil was too clever for the young man and stole his soul and now his ghost was still living in the house, hounting and searching for targets to free him from his curse by taking others souls. And there are some that say, he had experimated with humans to create his own monster and to find a way to immortality, since a lot of people are wittnesses for strange sounds and explotions coming from the direction of the house.  
  
Are there really such things as ghosts?  
  
Indeed, if you walked at night by the house, alone, you would think that maybe there is some truth behind the words and would continue walking on as soon as you can with a shudder.  
  
There are few that really know the truth.  
  
On of these few, is a little kid.  
  
He was in the "ghost mansion" , sitting on the bed. Although the window was only half open, the curtains danced wildly while letting the cold night breeze into the dark room. It was a somewhat scary thing to watch, because if you kept watching the curtains, which seemed to move and glow in the shiny moonlight, you could have sworn ghost are playing with them.  
  
But he was not scared. And although he was obviously freezing while he kept sitting on the bed motionless, which was also doved in the moonlight, he didn`t bother closing the window. Instead he kept unmoving on the bed. His little arms were placed on his sides, also unmoving and he stared at the wall, into the darkness of the room. His face seemed to be made of stone. It showed no emotions at all, his gaze was glued upon the opposite wall. His face had no color, it seemed like as if it was dead, like the rest of him and if his chest wouldn`t be moving a little every here and then, you might think there`s a corpse lying in the bed. Indeed, the only color in the young boys face were his red and puffed eyes and a wet path down his cheeks which were glimming in the moonlight.  
  
There was a noise coming from outside the room, but he didn`t care or move. He knew exactly that this house was very old and made a few noises but that`s normal for it.  
  
Why he knew such things? Simple.  
  
It was his own house. Since his parents moved to the United States he was living in here alone.  
  
He sighed, still sitting unmoving on his bed, leaning against the wall and a lonely tear found it`s way out of his eyes, down a path which obviously had seen many tears recently.  
  
He was doing this every night. Sitting here and watching the wall. He had already black eyes out of the lack of sleep but he didn`t care. He didn`t wanted to sleep. Every time he did, he got horrible nightmares and visions hounting him and making his heart ache. Not that they didn`t hount him in daily life, too.  
  
And everything went so perfect in the beginning. Two weeks ago he had discovered the final and all important hint to the destruction of the Black Organisation. "The Men in Black" that were responsible for his current state.  
  
The boy turned and saw himself in the mirror. A tiny boy who was almost nine watched back.  
  
Another tear and a little sob were the reponse of his body and he turned away again. He wasn`t able to look at this false reflection anymore. This wasn`t him! This was NOT him at all. He was not eight years old. He was eighteen!  
  
A little over two years ago, that Black Organisation had poisoned him with a drug that had made his body shrunk. And that only because he had discovered one of their dark and illegal works. That was his job, after all. He is a detective.  
  
Since that day, he is trying to find an antidote and to locate the current location of the Organisation so that he can destroy them and finally return to his own self.  
  
More then two years of pain, humiliation and fruitless searching had passed. He had found a way to live like this and had found friends who helped him the best they could. Friends who had discovered his secret. Like his neighbour, Doctor Agasa, the inventor. Without his help, he would be already dead by now. Or a certain detective from Osaka, Heiji Hattori, who helped him whenever he needs him, or a former member of the Organisation, Ai Haibara, the actual inventor of the drug that`s responsible for his state. She quit and was turned into a kid as well and is currently hiding from the members of the Black Organisation who would kill her if they found her. You would think she could invent an antidote if she already invented the drog, right? Not quite. Without the formulars and informations from the Organisation it was no use. All she could do were instant antidotes which helped like for the maximum of one day, if not an hour. And there still was 'she'. The daughter of the detective he had been living at. She was the daughter of Korogo Mori, and his childhoodfriend. Ran Mori.  
  
His heart ached.  
  
The time had passed but Ran and her father didn`t discover his secret which was exactly what he wanted. It would be way too dangerous for her. For her, her father and everybody else around him. She was often damn close to it but he could wigle out somehow every time.  
  
Like mentioned, two weeks ago he had found the final hint he needed to overthrow the Organisation. The little detective immediately called all the people who were able to help him. Heiji, Ai, Kaito Kid, who became a friend of Shinichi (he was pretty sure that the Black Oranisation was responsible for the death of Kaitos father. Kaito is searching for them to revenge his father. That`s why he became Kaito Kid in the first place) and a few others. With their help he formed the perfect plan to fight them and to bring them into prison, where they belong so he finally can return back to his normal body. It had been very touching how his friends all worked together and risked their lifes to win the battle against the Organisation. Conan also called the police but only at the end, after almost everything was already over.  
  
They sneaked in the very same night into the old factory they`ve been hiding, probably planning their next coup, because they mustn`t have the chance to run away and hide. Their surprise attack succeeded. The Black Organisation had been unprepared but fought back the best they could.  
  
A group of the Black Organisations member`s, Campari, Ouzo, Rum, Jack Daniels, Brandy, Baccardi, Baylies and Eggnog, followed by other enraged servants, immediately pushed the alarm and armed themselves. Thanks to the genius plan of our friends they could be captured before seriously harming anyone.  
  
Another member named Curacao got shot while trying to kill Inspector Megure and others rather locked themselves in a room and burned it in order to not lose their secret documents to the police, then to get caught.  
  
Heiji had to be transported to the hospital, bleeding out of several wounds. He got too involved in the fight with Gin and didn`t count with a knife, hidden in Gin`s shoes. And as Vermouth suddenly appeared behind him with a gun he thought his life was over. Luckily, Kaito and Conan came to his rescue. While fighting with Vermouth, Kaito got shot in his shoulder and Gin cutted Conan`s arm and leg with the knife before he could react but they overwhelmed both. They had been fighting like crazy but Heiji, Conan and Kaito had been prepared and in the end they couldn`t do anything against their destiny. Gin and Vermouth went to prison. Many of their followers and servants followed and as it looks at the moment, they are going to stay there for a very long time since the police discovers and discovers more and more crimes commited by them.  
  
Ai had worked her way to the main office and looked through the computers for informations to keep them all in prison forever, and of course for informations about the antidote.  
  
Wodka was hold back, chained by Doctor Agasa but could free himself as he kicked him at an unguarded moment in the stomach, forcing the inventor on his knees. Wodka ran and tried to escape but was stopped by Kogoro. He had fought as hard as he could and in the end overwhelmed Wodka (who got by the way trice the weight of the detective). The ex-policeman had to be brought to the hospital with grave injuries and Wodka`s joining now his following members of the Organisation in prison.  
  
After the police arrested all the left members, Conan and the others received medical treatments. Kaito got his revenge and after his wounds from the battle are healed and he finishes school, he plans to move in with his girlfriend Aoko. The same goes for Heiji. After almost facing death in the battle, he realized he had to seize his days alive. That`s why he confessed his love to Kazuha and after she returned his feelings he proposed to her. They are going to marry after graduating.  
  
Conan was very happy for them. They deserved every luck and happyness they could get.  
  
He couldn`t thank them enough for their help. He had won the battle of his life. Soon the guys could go and they went back to their homes. Conan for his part was sitting in Kaitos and Heijis room, talking with them as Ran rushed in the room, worried and glad they were all ok. Conan didn`t like making her worry, and his thoughts were all around the fight he had finally won and what Ai would find out about the antidote and that he soon could be himself again.  
  
But after seeing Ai`s face as she visited them in the night (Conan was allowed to stay with Kaito and Heiji over night) his heart sank to his feet. Her eyes were without any kind of expression and her face looked like as if she had seen a ghost.  
  
~~~ Conan sat on his bed and shivered. Maybe he should close the window? But what would it matter. Actually he didn`t shiver only from the cold but from the memory of what came next. He briefly watched out of the window, seeing the moon and layed back on his bed, continueing waching the wall. He could remember what came next as if it had happened only yesterday and not two weeks ago. He shivered again.  
  
He remembered how his face had lost all of his color, how his heart clenched and hurted him like as if staked with a huge sword, how his stomach turned as if wanting to throw up, how his body started trembling and his eyes started burning. He remembered Ai having said the words that would change his life, forever.  
  
No way.  
  
There was no way for her to find a cure, to find the antidote for their state. She had said these exact words.  
  
As his body sunk back to the chair he was sitting on in the hospital and his face stared emotionless at the ceiling, she told him they had destroyed everythig including ATPX 4869 and without those informatins she could do nothing. She was helpless as much as he was. They had to stay like this. To stay like they were, to stay kids till they grew again.  
  
Conan remembered today the worried faces of Heiji and Kaito, as if scared of his reaction and worried about what he is going to do now. Even Ai had looked at him miserably but he could do nothing but sit and stare as his situation sunk in his head and became clearer and clearer. Kid forever. No! This is not true! This must me some bad dream! What would he do now? And what about....  
  
Conan stood up from the chair and walked slowly to the door. Opening it, he said:  
  
"Thank you guys. I will never forget what you have done for me. You all have been great!"  
  
Then he turned and smiled at them, then stepped outside and closed the door quietly behind him.  
  
Conan did not quite remember all the placed he went after leaving the hospital. It had not mattered to him at that moment. All he can remember is that at some point he found himself in front of the detective office Mori.  
  
The situation in the office had changed. Kogoro`s injuries had been worse than they thought. He was still in the hospital where Ran and Eri took care of him as often as they could. Eri had decided that when Kogoro was released they should move in together again.  
  
Conan took the stairs of the office one by one and knocked. Soon Ran opened him and smiled at him, happy he already returned and started talking. He could only stare at her emotionless and her words did not find the way to his brain. All he understood was that the dinner was ready and that she would go to visit her father to bring him some things. Then she was already gone.  
  
Conan stared after her. He stared in the direction she just left for about half an hour, then turned to walk into the house. He immediately went to his room and stood in front of his bed with clenched fists. He remained like that untill suddenly some kind of barried broke loose. Uncontrolable tears started to run down his face, he began to sob and shiver severly and finally broke down on his bed. He had cried the whole night untill he ran out of tears and fell asleep out of exhaustion.  
  
The next day had been a schoolday and for the whole week some kind of mechanismus took over. He did not remember what had happened or how but he was in school and came back home like on any other day. He had been emotionless the whole week, walking numb through the world and he was not really present in everything he did. Instead he was thinking a lot, crying every night in his room untill he would fall asleep out of exhaustion, if he fell asleep at all.  
  
Ai had been behaving strangely too. She barly talked to him nor did she notice him a lot but he didn`t care. What did it anything matter anymore, anyways?  
  
Of course Ayumi and the boys never noticed anything but went on their happy daily life. A life he now had to live as well. The life of an eight year old. The life of Conan Edogawa.  
  
Kaito retuned to the other side of Tokyo to start his new life and Heiji went back to Osaka where he immediately had a long talk with Kazuha.  
  
Ran came home from school to cook, take care of Conan and eventually sleep a few hours before going the long way back to the hospital. She looked weaker by the days.  
  
At the end of the week, Conan had come to a conclusion.  
  
~~~ A few tears runned down Conan`s little face. He did not bother to wipe them away as he turned again and watched the moon, ignoring the heavy shiver of his body.  
  
'If I had told her how I feel, she would miss me even more. All this time I`ve been breaking her heart by keeping her wait. Yet I still can`t appear before her eyes. I never want to see her cry again, even if it means I no longer exist in her heart.'  
  
He clearly remembered this one time, long ago, as he had said those words about Ran to Ai. He had meant these words and they had been coming from the deepth of his heart. He had meant every single one. Not that he had not wished, daily prayed and hoped with every fibre of his being that he would never be forced to make them come true.  
  
But it had been no use. Nobody could help him now. What was she still waiting for? Conan knew exactly that Ran was still waiting for Shinichi to return, and he knew she would wait forever. Like he would in her place.  
  
But what was she waiting now for? -For somebody that would (could) never ever return to her.  
  
Conan had thought long and hard about this and had finally decided under tears what he was obliged to do. Not because it was comfortable for him, which it was NOT. He did not care that it would break and bruise his own heart, leaving it unrecognizable forever, bute he loved her more than anything else in the world. He loved her more than to keep hurting her, no matter what kind of pain he would cause himself.  
  
For her happyness it was even worth his death.  
  
It was the hardest thing he ever saw himself forced to do in his whole life but he found no other solution. Not anymore.  
  
And that`s how he had made another plan. A last one. Anything after didn`t matter anything.  
  
First, he had packed his things together. Then he had written a letter to Ran. He had to rewrite it about four times because it was so soaked with his tears that it was not readable anymore.  
  
Dear Ran  
  
How are you? I hope you are fine. I heared what happened with your father and I am really sorry. It must be very hard for you, with school and taking care and everything. But at least your mother helps you, right? It`s good to see that she obviously wants him back. Isn`t that what you always wanted? I am so happy for you. Ran...please listen to me carefully now and please don`t hate me for what I have to do okay? Ran, I will not return to Tokyo. I know it must be hard to understand but it just...turned out like that. I know I am a jerk for keeping you wait but I can not help it. I am going to stay here in America with my parents where I will study criminologie. I am sorry. It`s the best if you just forget me! And please don`t hate me. That`s the only thing I dare asking you. I hope you can forgive me. You should know that the time with you had been the best I`ve had. Maybe I will write to you one day, or better not as to not disturb your new life, I don`t know. I never meant to hurt you, you have to believe me that. Please don`t wait for me and find yourself a nice boyfriend and become happy ok? I wish all luck on earth. I`ll never forget you.  
  
Forever, Shinichi Kudo  
  
Now Conan put the letter in the Mori`s mailbox without sender and returned in his room. He felt so sick. Felt like as if his life is worth nothing anymore. Felt like it would not matter if he would drop dead this very moment. Felt like as if he could not breathe anymore as he sank on his bed for the thousands time and collapsed under heavy sobbing and crushing tears.  
  
'I am so sorry Ran. So sorry! I wish there was another way. "  
  
Then he heared Ran openig the door. He knew she had the mails in her hands, she always picked them of the mailbox before entering the house. He closed his eyes as hard as he could and held his breath, ignoring the tears that came out of his eyes.  
  
'Please forgive me Ran!'  
  
The next thing he heared was silence, then a bam and her own sobbs. It was obvious she had collapsed on the ground crying.  
  
He felt his heart tear in million little pieces as he heared her cry severly. His chest clenched, He felt as if he could not breathe anymore as he held his chest tightly. The pain was enormous and absolutly unbearable and he began to just cry harder.  
  
How badly he wanted to go to her, to comfor her and tell her everything was ok. To sell his soul and own happyness so that she had not to go through the pain he caused her, again. But he couldn`t. Could not help her. He had to go through this, go through this hell, for her sake.  
  
***  
  
Next morning she greeted him with a weak smile and made him breakfast. She looked horrible. It was obvious, and not only for a detective, that she had had no sleep at all but had cried all night. She told him she felt not well but he had not to worry. She would skip school today and go to the hospital instead, immediately. As she left the house, Conan left the last thing he knew he had to do. Another letter.  
  
Dear Ran- neechan  
  
I am sorry I just left without really saying goodbye, but my mother suddenly picked me up. She will take me to someplace with her. Now you can move in with your mom and dad, ne? I wanna thank you so very very much for everything you`ve ever done for me. You are the nicest person and I know. Thank you for being my big sister. My mom said thanks too. I don`t know how to repay you dear neechan but I will definitly find a way. Maybe we will see each other again someday. Please don`t cry. I don`t wanna see you sad! One last thing... I love you, Ran- neechan.  
  
Your Conan  
  
As Ran found the letter he was already gone. He had decided to go and life with Doctor Agasa so he is near his own house and so that he can move in again when he is older.  
  
He decided to leave her so Ran can move in with her family. And so she had a new chance to find somebody new. His heart and stomach clenched again at the thought. It was the right thing to do. It would be easier for her that way. ~~~  
  
'That had been exactly eight days ago' Conan thought, still observing the moon. 'And I didn`t see her again. I heared she moved out of the office and in with her mother. She will be happy soon, again, I am certain of that. But why do I still feel so numb? Like dead?'  
  
He didn`t bother answering the question, since the answer was clear. A few tears found their way out of his eyes again. It weren`t much left. When will he be able to stop crying?  
  
In exactly this moment he saw a shooting star. Would it bring anything to wish something? He didn`t believe in such things but closed his tearsoaked eyes and made a wish.  
  
'How naïve!  
  
A few minutes and tears later, he curled into a ball and fell asleep, exhaused, on his bed, in the shine of the moonlight.  
  
*~*~*~  
  
"Conan? What`s wrong?"  
  
No reponse.  
  
"Conan?"  
  
"What?" he turned to his right and looked into Ayumis worried face.  
  
"What`s wrong with you? You look terrible! Are you ill?"  
  
"No, I am fine, really." He said.  
  
'That`s about the biggest lie I`ve ever told anyone' he told himself. 'Don`t be so sure of that!' another part of his mind answered. 'I know....!'  
  
"Ayumi- chan just asked you if you are exited, too. After the break we will get a new student!" Genta interfered.  
  
"Oh...Sure!" he lied again. 'What do I care about new students? I have OTHER problems...'  
  
He looked at Ai but she refused to meet his gaze. He shruggled and turned back.  
  
"I wonder what the new one is like! Maybe another handsome young boy!" Ayumi said exited, looking at Conan.  
  
"NO WAY!" Both, Genta and Mitsuhiko answered, jealous.  
  
Conan rolled his eyes 'OH gimme a break'. He thought angryly as the door opened and the teacher came in, leaving the door open. The students rushed to their seats in a hurry and became silent, looking exited at the teacher. Only Conan looked bored in some other direction, supporting his head in a hand.  
  
"Dear class, today we will greet another student in our class. She just moved to Tokyo. Please be nice to her. Come in dear!" the teacher said to the open door. A petit girl walked in, closing the door behind her and standing next to the teacher.  
  
"AW, is she cuuuttteee!" Conan heared Genta say.  
  
"Class, this, is Ran Kudo."  
  
Conan`s hand slipped and his head hit the table, hard.  
  
'WHAT THE - ?!?' 


	2. The new student

Kids forever?!?!  
  
"Dear class, today we will greet another student in our class. She just moved to Tokyo. Please be nice to her. Come in dear!" the teacher said to the open door. A petit girl walked in, closing the door behind her and standing next to the teacher.  
  
"AW, is she cuuuttteee!" Conan heared Genta say.  
  
"Class, this, is Ran Kudo."  
  
Conan`s hand slipped and his head hit the table, hard.  
  
'WHAT THE - ?!?'  
  
Chapter 2  
  
~Unbearable loss~  
  
"Hello Ran" the whole class chanted in unison. The girl waved shyly.  
  
"So dear, let`s see where to seat you. Oh look, in front Ai- chan there is an empty seat." The teacher gestured at the place next to Genta.  
  
The girl walked over to the place and sat down. The teacher smiled pleased, turned around and went on with the reading.  
  
"Okay, we will continue with what we have started last time. We began to multiply. Let`s see. Can anybody tell me what 7 times 3 is? Yes dear?...." The teacher started talking with the class and writing on the table.  
  
Conan couldn`t care less what the teacher had to say. He kept staring at the new student, his mouth hanging open. Did he just hear right? Did the teacher just really say 'Ran Kudo'? What was going on? This can`t be...He stared at Ai who was sitting next to him, wanting to check if she thought the same he did, but she payed no attention to him. Instead she was writing what the teacher did.  
  
Conan stared back at Ran. From behind she really could be his Ran. The same brown hair... He had had not enough time to look at her face because he had been too busy staring, being shocked and keeping the flies off his open mouth. For the rest of the class he could barly do anything else as he kept looked at Ai, then at Ran and back again.  
  
After the class, Conan jumped to his feet and walked over to the new girl, intending to find out the truth about her but he was not fast enough.  
  
"Hello Ran! My name is Ayumi! This is Genta, this Mitsuhiko, this is Haibara and over there we have Conan."  
  
"Hello everybody!" she answered, looking around and at each in turn smiling. As her eyes rested on Conan, they bored deeply into his for a second before looking away again.  
  
Shinichi didn`t know if the sting in his heart had been imagination.  
  
"Do you wanna walk home with us? We can walk together and bring you, really!"  
  
"That`s nice of you but-"  
  
"She`s right! Just because you are new, doesn`t mean you have to walk home or be alone!"  
  
"Uh..I.." she said blinking uncertainly.  
  
"Great, then it`s decided!!! Come on guys, let`s get going!" Genta said happyly.  
  
"HAI!" the others said, agreeing.  
  
Ran never really had much of a choice.  
  
~~  
  
"Where do you live?" Mitsuhiko asked her.  
  
"Currently I am living with my uncle..." She said, smiling at him.  
  
'As far as I know, Ran has no uncles...' Shinichi thought, somewhat dissapointed. He used his neglegated detective skills to find out the truth about this mysterious girl.  
  
They continued chatting happily, like kids at their age are supposed to do and laughed a lot. During these talking, Shinichi`s thoughts and hopes about this girl being his Ran vanished slowly.  
  
"A real detective group?"  
  
"Yeah, we are the detective boys! We solve unsolved mysteries and help people and the police! We`ve already solved so many cases together! "  
  
"Really? That sounds pretty exiting. You mean with real criminals and everything? Wow! Isn`t that so dangerous?"  
  
"Oh yeah, it really is but no danger is too dangerous and no case to hard to solve for-  
  
-THE DETECTIVE BOYS!" Ayumi, Genta and Mitsuhiko screamed in unison and placed themselves in the usual 'We- are-the- Detective Boys- and- bad- guys- beware!' pose, beaming at her.  
  
Conan and Ai just shoke their heads and Ran looked a little puzzled and doubtfully.  
  
"Anyways, do you wanna join us? We are less girls than boys anyways and we can be friends!!" Ayumi almost forced Ran.  
  
"W-well, I ..."  
  
"Yeah, join us! The more we are the better!"  
  
"Well...OKAY! That sounds sooo exiting!!" Ran said, smiling broadly.  
  
"So cool! Now we have equal girls and boys in our team!"  
  
"Say Ran, what`s your favorite book?" Mitsuhiko asked her.  
  
"Uh...?!" she thought for a moment.  
  
"What`s your favorite TV series? Yaiba right?" Ayumi went on, don`t waiting for an answer.  
  
"W-well...I .." Ran looked puzzled.  
  
"What`s your favorite meal??" Genta asked her with a huge smile. Everybody laughed.  
  
"Okay guys, I still have to go to the library. See you tomorrow!" Ai said suddenly and already waved goodbye.  
  
"And I gotta hurry home. We talked so much about food I am almost starving!" Genta said, holding his growling stomach and also dissapeared, hurrying home as fast as his feet could carry him.  
  
"And we have to go this way. See you tomorrow, Ran- chan! Bye Conan- kun."  
  
"Yeah, bye Ran- chan. Bye Conan- kun!" Ayumi and Mitsuhiko said their goodbyes and dissapeared as well.  
  
Now Conan was alone with Ran. She shoke her head amused, looking after them for a second.  
  
He figured her name was just coincidence, although he had to admid she looked a lot like Ran. But maybe it was just his mind imaging things since he could hardly think at something else but her. And her way of behaving was different. Ran was more mature. He was just dreaming again... How could he ever think .... 'Wishfull hoping I guess....'  
  
Sighing inwardly, more dissapointed than ever, and sad because he could not stop thinking at his lost childhood friend who seemed now to be lost forever, he crossed his arms behind his head, trying to act as calm as he could untill he was at home. Although he was officially living with Doctor Agasa, he prefered sleeping in his own house these days. He didn`t want anybody to see him in this condition. Not at nights, when things became worse than over the day. When the pain broke through and became unbearable. When the nightmares returned.....  
  
'What was she doing at the moment? If it`s still her, after all..?' he looked at the little girl.  
  
'Stop thinking about her. She is gone for good. You`ve released her, remember? Don`t act so selfish now. What did you expect anyways?? Crazy!'  
  
"Is this your direction?" he asked her casually, using his acting skills to sounds cool, not showing the desperation and pain that was torning his heart into million pieces.  
  
His mother would have been proud.  
  
"Y-yeah, I am living over there."  
  
"I see." They walked in silence. He never took notice that she was pointing in his own direction.  
  
Even her walking reminded him at Ran.  
  
'Stupid, can`t you think at anything else but her all the time?' his mind railed him.  
  
'No!' his heart simply replied.  
  
"Are you feeling alright?" she asked him, looking at the ground.  
  
"Huh? What? Why?" he answered surprised.  
  
"Just because you look really tired, and you have red eyes and that`s why I thought..."  
  
Shoot! He had forgotten about that. Not that he cared lots what he looked like recently...  
  
"No no, I am fine...I just..had..some really bad nights..Don`t worry. "  
  
'Aren`t you going to do anything else but lie?' his mind argued with itself. 'Shut up!'  
  
"Okay." Ran said, beliving his explanation.  
  
What else could she do? How much sence would it make to try and explain her his hearts pain? She wouldn`t understand it. He was all alone with it.  
  
The walked on in silence again.  
  
"So...you are member of the Detective Boys huh? What part do you have?"  
  
"Oh, I usually do the thinking. As always..." he mumbled unthinkingly.  
  
"I remember. Well, you`ve always been the smart one."  
  
Conan stopped short and looked puzzled at her, not sure if he was hearing things again.  
  
"W-what did you say?"  
  
"Me? I said nothing." She said, looking surprised at him.  
  
Either she`s really not aware what she said or she`s a damn good actress.  
  
Ran had to giggle at his strange expression and went on ahead, her hands crossed behind her back.  
  
Conan`s body reacted immediately to that smile, his heart starting to beat like crazy.  
  
He knew this feeling. Knew this smile that made his knees go weak every time. Swallowing, he gathered all his courage.  
  
"Is...is it really you? Ran?" he asked to her back that was still turned to him, involuntary pronouncing the last word with as much emotions as he had in his voice. She stopped walking and smiled at herself.  
  
"Of course it`s me. I told you my name is Ran, didn`t I? Whatever could you mean?..." she turned and looked directly into his eyes. "...Shinichi!?"  
  
His heart failed working for about ten beats. His stomach turned itself over and it felt like it`s gonna burst soon, along with his heart that suddenly started beating like crazy and he began to sweat slightly.  
  
"Wh- what did you just say?"  
  
Still smiling, she walked closer to him and layed a hand on his cheek, never breaking eyecontact.  
  
"You heared me right!"  
  
He took a step back, eyes and mouth widened in shock and moved a hand to cover his mouth with a hand, staring blankly at her.  
  
She was just standing where he had left her, her hand lowered slowly to her side, looking into his eyes.  
  
Still covering his mouth and shaking his head in disbelief, he murmured with shocked eyes:  
  
"No, that`s not true...I-it`s impossible....You...you..y..o..u...you really..."  
  
"I really 'what' ?" she asked him.  
  
"You...you...yyoouuuuu..." that`s all he could say, still stunned and shocked as all hell, not beliving in what was happening.  
  
"Maybe we should go for a walk in the park, what do you say?"  
  
Still staring at her unmoving, he could not form a better sentence than..  
  
"You..youhuhuuu.." she just shoke her head and took his hand.  
  
"I`ll just take that as a yes!" she said, dragging him the few meters to the little park nearby. Sitting him on a bench she sat next to him and looked at the ground.  
  
"Are you surprised?"  
  
He took a moment to collect himself, mentaly kicking himself for what he was thinking.  
  
'Such things never happen, so quit being silly.'  
  
"No, of course not. I just think I am imaging things again. Must be the lack of sleep. Sorry ... but you certainly are not the one I think you are. I .... I need to go!"  
  
He told her, standing up as fast as he could and tried to walk away but a hand held him back. She had grasped his hand, had stood up herself and was hugging him tightly after drawing him in the semicircle of her arms, not saying a word.  
  
Not reacting at all, he felt a few tears soaking his shirt. Closing his eyes, letting the sensation wash over him as he smelled her, he breathed her in deeply, leaving no doubt who he truly was holding in his arms.  
  
It was his Ran, his love, his everything. She had returned to him.  
  
He lifted his arms and returned the hug as tightly as he could, being afraid it may be just a dream. Wouldn`t be the first time...  
  
"Are you real?" he whispered into her ear, holding her tighter, needing to ask her.  
  
"I am as real as you are!" she returned the words and the gesture.  
  
"Is it really you Ran? Are you really my Ran? Can I dare believe?" he continued whispering.  
  
"It`s really me, my Shinichi. You can believe it."  
  
A shiver ran through his body and he rubbed his cheek against hers, feeling her, needing to be sure she was really there, then he smelled her again and held her closer to his body. She once again returned the gesture and sighed.  
  
"I thought I had lost you forever!" he whispered with skeaky voice tenderly in her ear.  
  
"So had I!" she answered quietly. After slowly parting, they held hands and faced each other. She grinned at him.  
  
"How do you know it`s me?"  
  
"Your smell, your eyes, your smile, your way of walking ..."  
  
"I see.." she said, blushing a little bit at the fact that he knew her and her body language by heart, even if her body was now half the size as it had been last week..  
  
"Don`t you wanna know what happened?"  
  
"No, not yet!" was his surprising answer as he took her in his arms again and held her as tightly as he could, so that he would not lose her to any unknown force that might think of coming between them. He had to be sure this was no dream.  
  
She smiled at that and held him back, one hand moving on his back and one burried itself in his hair, holding him very close to her heart while tenderly stroking his scalp in a shoothing way, trying to calm him down a little. She had had time to get used to the thought of her in this body but she knew he still needed time to comprehent.  
  
The young couple stood like that for what seemed like a little eternity. Time passed slowly and she felt him shiver strongly against her. But she was there to hold and comfort him.  
  
After calming down, she took his hand and lead him to the bench and they both sat down. She turned to him and started explaining.  
  
"Ai told me everything." Was her only sentence. He look somewhat stunned and puzzled at her.  
  
'Ai? I always thought she does not like Ran?!!'  
  
He looked at her and waited for her to tell the rest but she just looked at him with raised eyebrows, as if not understanding what he wanted.  
  
"And.....?" he said, trying to make her go on talking.  
  
"And what?"  
  
"Did she just go to you and say, 'Hey Ran, by the way, did you already know.....' ?"  
  
He trailed of, don`t finding the rest necessary to say.  
  
"Actually it had been my idea. I kinda forced her..."  
  
Now he was totally confused. He stared stupefied at her, so she continued.  
  
"It was your letter...I ..I know your way of expressing and know your letters, Shinichi. I know when something is bothering you and when you try to lie or hide something from me. Like before, when you tried to make me believe you were alright as I asked you. Well, I can`t blame you. If I really had been a little girl I would have believed you. But I could see right through you."  
  
He was surprised at her statement but knew it was the truth. He could never really hide something like that from Ran. It`s always been like that. As long as he can think.  
  
"And yet...your letter was...let`s say unnatural. It made me think. After the broke down, my heart said 'that can`t be true.' And I believed it. I clung onto the little hope that something was wrong, something I don`t know was going on. It made me research the facts and soothed me a little, giving me the strengh to do so. And then, suddenly Conan vanished too. You know, I`ve heared you cry. I`ve heared you cry every night since my father went to hospital. I felt that something of importance had occurred during that night. Too many things had changed from a second to the other. I just didn`t know what... And then that letter from Conan came...and it sounded more like you... "  
  
She trailed of herself, looking at the feet. He kept listening in silence. Taking a deep breath she went on.  
  
"The...the main-reason for my suspicions... had...had been..." again she took a deep beath, needing to say it all.  
  
"I`ve never seen or heared you cry. It was scary and made my heart ache like I never thought possible. I knew something was wrong but I didn`t dare asking you . However, I am not stupid so I made something up and counted one and one together... I asked Ai about it. I`ve heared you two talk often about mature things and I guess she took pity on me and explained me everything.  
  
After the shock and the anger slowly vanished, I started feeling your pain. I thought about what you have been through, what you had to go through, alone, because you didn`t want to put me in any danger, and you cried so much after your chance..vanished. Like I said, in our long time together as friends... I`ve rarely seen you cry... Just then I realized how much I must mean to you and I felt my own feelings for you, clearer then they`ve ever been. So I asked her for the pill and after some hestitation she agreed."  
  
"Ran I am so sorry. I wanted to tell you, I really did! So many times did I ..." she cutted him off by placing a finger on his lips.  
  
"I know that...and it`s not important anymore. You could have changed nothing. I see that now. And it was my own decision. My father is feeling better and my Mom is taking care of him now. They fight but they actually get along very well. They don`t need me anymore so I decided to go my own way and be by the one that means the world to me, even if I had to shrunk to do so."  
  
"Ran...oh Ran..." he sunk his head and after recovering he took a deep breath.  
  
"ARE YOU INSANE???" he almost sceamed at her with a sorrowfull face.  
  
She bulged away slightly, surprised.  
  
"How can you do such a stupid thing??? Such a vey stupid thing, you crazy crazy girl..." his eyes got teary, his words lost it`s volume with every word and while saying the last words he begann kissing her gently all over her face which he held firmly in his hands while talking to her and looking directly into her eyes.  
  
"Love makes you do the craziest things." Was her simply answer as she layed her hands on his that still were resting on her cheeks. He gazed deeply into her eyes then smiled tenderly and shoke his head slightly.  
  
"You are so crazy, do you know that? So crazy.." he said in a shaky voice. She smiled at him.  
  
"I have picked that up from my childhood friend." He smiled weakly at her, resting his forehead against hers.  
  
"You shouldn`t have done this. You just shouldn`t have! Just look at you!"  
  
He said with great concern in his eyes and voice, brushing with his hands carefully over her face.  
  
"What? Do I look that bad?"  
  
"Hell no! You look as beautiful as ever, if not even more! But you are eight years old! You should have never done this just for me! Especially after what I`ve done to you the last weeks."  
  
She looked stubbornly at him. "I wanted to be with you Shinichi. I know exactly what I am doing. This is exactly where I want to be."  
  
"I am just so sorry it had to turn out like this...." he paused, overwhelmed, searching for the right words. He needed to explain her his acting with his own words.  
  
"I am sorry about what I`ve done...I never meant to hurt you! It was god knows not easy for me to do that. All I wanted is for you to be happy, to have a future. And now look! I destroyed everything for you! You sacrified everything , your whole life, just for my stupid sake..."  
  
She shoke her head severly, stopping him.  
  
"No Shinichi, don`t say that! What would it have been like for me, to have a future, grown up but without you? It was my own decision and I do have a future, even now! I have a future with you together, that`s all I ever wanted and needed, all I ever will need! And if you accept me, I will be happier than I ever thought was possible! Happier than I ever could with anybody else."  
  
She finished talking, her cheeks took a red color as she looked into his eyes which were almost pleading and in the same time afraid of rejection. He gazed deeply into her neverending deep and clear eyes, his mind working hard on comprehending everything she had said. What confused him most, was that she seemed afraid he might not want her.  
  
'Was she crazy? How could I ever not want her?' he thought.  
  
"Are you crazy?? How could you ever think I would not want you???"  
  
She didn`t say or do anything, just stared into his eyes with a slight smile as she leaned her forehead against his and distangled one hand from their grip, laying it on one of his cheeks, stroking tenderly.  
  
They remained quiet for a long time in this position untill he looked down at their joined hands, then back into her eyes.  
  
'It`s now or never' he told himself. Gathering all the courage he could find, he gazed deeply into her beautiful eyes and whispered with a shaking, emotionfull voice:  
  
"I-..I I love you, Ran!" Her eyes widened in tender surprise as she continued looking softly at him, her mouth opened slightly.  
  
"I have for so long! Ever since we were little I knew there was only one woman for me! The one special person I wanted to protect the most in this world, with everything I got. Your happiness means more to me than anything else. I would even ignore my personal pain and stay away from you if that`s what it takes for you to be happy. And I tried..." he whispered as tears started running down his face.  
  
"I really tried to do the right thing and I let you go.... and ..I..did...and...I know it`s selfish .. but I felt horrible. I was so alone ...it was the hardest thing I`ve ever done and .." he sobbed some more.  
  
"You wouldn`t believe how much it hurted!..The pain was indescribable! It was as if I could never be happy again, as if I could not breath anymore and I didn`t even want to because life without you makes no sence. It hurted so much to walk away from you...so so much... "he whispered as new tears spilled.  
  
She pulled her forehead back and hugged his head, letting it come to a rest on her chest. At first he tried to pull away, but she held him only tighter.  
  
"You don`t always have to be strong, Shinichi. Just this once, let me be the strong one!"  
  
Stroking his head tenderly she slowly rocked him. Ran knew his pain must have been immense. She knew that what he had to go through had been an indescribable hard thing to do, but he had done it though. For her sake. It was proof of how much she meant to him.  
  
She couldn`t remember the last time she had seen him cry, left out the times before his dissapearance a week ago.  
  
She also couldn`t help it as a few tears escaped her eyes and she silently cried with him, rocking him, sharing his pain. And he hugged her back.  
  
"Ssshhh, it`s okay. I understand your feelings. I know it must have been hard for you, it was for me too, but it`s over. It`s okay now! You will see. You are not alone anymore. We are together now! I will never leave you again! I love you too much to be seperated from you even another day! I want to spend my life with only you! Sssshhh, my Shinichi."  
  
His eyes opened soon after as he began to calm down slowly. Whispering a little "Thank you", he squeezed her gratefully, which she returned.  
  
After about a minute, he pulled his head up slowly and looked into her eyes.  
  
"What did you just say?"  
  
She raised a hand with a magical appeared (or out of a pocket pulled) handkerchief and dried his handsome face tenderly as she spoke softly.  
  
"I said: I love you Shinichi!"  
  
Staring in disbelieve at her, his mind raced and his mouth opened again. After all she had been through with him, after everything that happened, she still loved him.  
  
"I`ve also loved you for very long Shinichi. I know you know because I told Conan long ago. But that doesn`t matter. What matters is that I love you more than I ever thought could be possible to love another person. Whenever I am with you, and is it with you as grown up, or with you as Conan, every time I felt so loved and cared for. You can give me this feeling that I am loved, this deep feeling of contentment just by being near me, hold my hand or simple looking at me. And you love me enough to let me go. You love me enough to take all the pain on your shoulders so that I can have a norml life. That alone is more than everybody ever did for me. Sacrifice ones happiness for the sake of his loved one. And you always were like that. You have the purest heart I`ve ever known and I love you, Shinichi Kudo! More then anybody or anything else."  
  
He was staring into her eyes without blinking the whole time, kinda speechless. Her words had reached his very soul and he felt each word coming from the deepth of her heart. He knew they had been the truth, every single word. He was so touched, deep down, that his hands began shaking again for a moment and he felt a few tears comming. Though this time, they were tears of pure happiness.  
  
Moving a hand to stroke her cheek tenderly and wipe away her own tears of emotions that had gathered there during her speech, he was searching for the right words to express himself. She returned the gesture, cleaning his face with soft fingers.  
  
Then, he stood up abruptly and took the surprised Ran in his arms. He hugged her so tightly that it was hard for her to breath but he soon released his deathgrip a little. Instead he held her up and started spinning her around, laughing and smiling at her.  
  
She shrieked and laughed, smiling back at him.  
  
"Shinichi!!!!!!"  
  
"Oh Ran! I love you! I love you so much! You made me the happiest man alive! I don`t know what to say! Oh jesus, I love you so so much!!"  
  
She simply beamed at him, her beauty and the shining that was surrounding her shone even brighter and more beautiful than the sun in the background. He spun her some more and she laughed.  
  
"See, I told you I have the craziness from you!"  
  
He set her on her feet again and laughed with her. It was so good to see him laugh again. It had been breaking her heart to hear him cry so much and he had looked like the walking death but now his laughing breathed a vivid living color on his white and tired face, making it look alive again. It made her heart sing.  
  
"Oh Ran...my Ran..." he said, hugging her again to him, though this time very softly and gave her a loving kiss on her cheek which she returned just as loving.  
  
"I`ll ask you one last time. Are you really sure about this? Is this really what you want?" he asked her, looking seriously into his eyes. There was nothing worse in the moment than thinking of her regretting her choice someday.  
  
She simply smiled, leaning forward and placed a soft kiss on his lips.  
  
"More than anything I`ve ever wanted. When you stay with me, I have all my wishes and dreams come true. That`s all I need."  
  
"You are all I need, too! I`ll never leave you again, Ran! You`re all mine now!" he said and hugged her possesively.  
  
"I`ve always been!"  
  
Was her simple answer as she smiled and layed her head gently on his chest and he rested his head on top of hers. Both sighed in unison out of pure contentment.  
  
After a while standing together like this, he began talking again.  
  
"Wanna go home? We have a lot to tell each other."  
  
"Sure, let`s go!" She said and started walking ahead happily. Or rather, jumping ahead.  
  
'Hi hi, in this body I can behave like a kid again.'  
  
Smiling brightly, he started walking after her but suddenly stopped.  
  
"I thought you selled the office?"  
  
"We did!" she answered, not looking at him, still jumping.  
  
Confused, he called after her.  
  
"Where are you living then??"  
  
She turned her head slowly and grinned seductively at him.  
  
"With you, of course!" she answered matter of factly.  
  
His mouth dropped open.  
  
She giggled and he slowly came back to himself. Slowly starting to grin as well at the new perspectives, he walked to her and took her hand, entwining their fingers lovingly, whispering "Of course" just as matter of factly as she had.  
  
A shiver ran down her spine as she beamed up at him.  
  
Together they started walking happily to the direction of Doctor Agasas house, his big silly grin never leaving his face. 


	3. A new case, a new life?

Kids forever?!?!  
  
Chapter 3  
  
~A new case, a new life~  
  
"WHAAATTTT???"  
  
"REALLY?"  
  
"NOT KIDDING???"  
  
These were the exact reponses from Genta, Ayumi and Mitsuhiko after hearing about Ran moving in with Doctor Agasa, Ai and Conan. At their noods, the boys started screaming again.  
  
Ai was not surprised at all since she was partly responsible for it. And also because she had had the perfect chance to get used to it. Conan and Ran had payed her a visit yesterday and thanked her for what she`s done for them. She did it because she hadn`t stand seeing Shinichi destroying himself. Now she was not sure is she was to regrett her choice. Not that she was...jealous or something......  
  
"That`s so great! Now we are closer together whenever we want to go play or investigate on a case.."  
  
"..or have dinner and go for pick nicks!" Genta eagerly finished Mitsuhikos sentence and everybody looked at him.  
  
He just shrugged and looked back surprised: "What?!?"  
  
They shoke their heads in unison and laughed. Everybody except Ayumi who looked sad.  
  
While classes Shinichi couldn`t keep his eyes off of Ran. She was so breathtaking, even this little and he couldn`t believe she was really his! Or actually here, for that matter.  
  
Yesterday they had been taking the whole day and night. She was now sleeping in Doctor Agasas house, next to Shinichi`s room, but not yesterday. Yesterday they had stayed in his own room in his house. They had finally talked everything out. He had told her what he`s always wanted to, the whole story about his curse and she had told him everthing out of her own perspective. First he had been afraid she might hate or leave him for what he`s done but nothing like that happened.  
  
She had understood him and forgiven him. That alone made up for everything he had gone through the last two years.  
  
Yes! Yesterday had changed their lives. Forever.  
  
Sometimes she would catch his gaze and smile back at him. It was as much a miracle for her as it was for him. She could finally be together with him, for good! A pleasant feeling spread across her belly, running through her whole body.  
  
The looks they shared remained not unobserved by Ayumi and she started feeling really sad.  
  
After school they went to dress to go home as Genta shouted:  
  
"Detective boys!! We have a new case!!!"  
  
Everybody gathered curiously around Genta as he read the piece of paper, that had been in his locker, out loud.  
  
"Dear Detective Boys. I hope you can find the time to help me. I don`t know what to do anymore! My big brother Toki is missing since last Wednesday and the police could not find him. Please help me, I don`t know what to do! You will find my adress on the backside. Ps: we have cake and tea for you. YUHEEE"  
  
"What do you think?" Mitsuhiko asked into the round.  
  
"A new case for the Detetive Boys!" Genta shouted, hitting his fist in the air.  
  
"YEAH!" Everybody else shouted with him.  
  
So they got dressed and hurried to the address. While walking they happily made plans about what they were going to do after the case. Conan suggested soccer and the boys screamed in agreement.  
  
"Ran?" Ayumi asked her.  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"Where does your surname come from? Kudo, I mean?"  
  
"Oh... that`s the name of my parents, of course."  
  
"Of course. It sounds funny though."  
  
"You thing? I like it! I`ve always loved the sound of it behind my own name. I am really proud of it."  
  
Ran answered, blushing slightly, throwing a sidegaze to the also blushing and surprised looking Conan.  
  
'I never knew that!' he thought surprised and a warm feeling spread through his whole body.  
  
"Speaking of names. Where did you get your second name from, Shinichi?" Ran asked Conan with a smirk and he stared at her in pure shock and disbelief.  
  
"Shinichi? Why do you call Conan Shinichi?" Everybody asked her except Ai who remained looking and walking forward. Conan tried to wafe it away severly.  
  
"No no, she must be mist-"  
  
"Conan told me yesterday, that Shinichi is his second name."  
  
"Huh?" he gasped at her with open mouth.  
  
"Why did you never tell us?"  
  
"Conan Shinichi Edogawa? Sounds funny!" Genta mused.  
  
"Yeah but I think Shinichi sounds better, that`s why I called him like that." Ran said.  
  
"She is right. Maybe we should call him like that too. It sounds certainly not that foreighn." Everybody laughed at Mitsuhikos comment.  
  
"Look, we are there!" Ai said, wanting to change the subject, and stopped in front of a huge apartment. "Let`s get in and find that boy."  
  
"Go ahead. We`ll be following in a second." Conan said and pulled Rans hand. The others went inside and missed Ai who rolled her eyes slightly and looked a little annoyed.  
  
"Ran.....what...?"  
  
"I just thought that was the perfect way for you to keep your name."  
  
"I see! Actually I`ve never thought of that, but I guess you are right. Since there is no danger anymore...." He said, blushing a little. Then grinning, he went on.  
  
"You like the name, huh?"  
  
"Yeah, always have!" she giggled.  
  
"Well, this way at least I can keep ONE of my names, huh? You name thief." They giggled and she blushed deeply.  
  
"Like I said, I`ve always thought it sounds nice behind my own name, and I figured that could be the only way for you now. And there`s still one way for you to get your whole name 'legally' back....."  
  
She blushed even more, looking at the ground. He had to think a moment before he understood what she meant. 'The only way I can get it, is with...OH...m-marriage...' Now he also blushed but was at the same time stunned of her way of thinking. It made him feel really good and warm inside.  
  
"Aren`t you a little too young to think at marriage, young girl?" he teased her.  
  
"Baka!" she teased back with a serious face, then laughed. "I can see you don`t mind it much though, now do you?"  
  
"Course not, I love my name!" he said, holding his nose up proudly, then ruined the effect by grinning.  
  
"So do I!" she said, looking softly at him.  
  
He looked deep into her eyes and walked closer to her, taking her slowly in his arms, holding her around her waist with his right arm while his left hand went to caress her cheek.  
  
"And I love you!" he whispered gently into her ear, pressing a neverending sweet and tender kiss on her free cheek as he supported her head with his other hand.  
  
It felt so good being able to tell her!  
  
She closed her eyes smiling, enjoying his touch and sighed, then went to stroke his neck with her free hand, whispering back.  
  
"I love you too!"  
  
"What would I do without you?" he asked her smiling. She smiled back but remained silent.  
  
"Gee, I`ll even get my name back!! I can`t believe it!" he beamed at her.  
  
"I can not believe that we can make up for the lost time. We got a second chance."  
  
"You are right! We can finally seize our time together. We are very lucky."  
  
"Yeah! Very lucky!" she breathed as she leaned against his chest, closing her eyes contently, smiling. She still felt so cared for in his arms. Nothing could harm her as long as she was with him. She hoped this feeling would never change!  
  
"Conan- Shinichi- Edogawa! Move your butt up here right now! Are we supposed to solve this case alone?" Genta screamed out of a window.  
  
"We`re coming, we`re coming." Shinichi screamed back, grinned, then turning back to Ran who was also smiling at him.  
  
"I guess he`s afraid, that he won`t come back home before lunchtime without my help!"  
  
He grinned and she had to laugh. Smiling he took her hand and they walked in the house together.  
  
~~~  
  
Walking into the living room, they were greeted by Genta`s shouts:  
  
"Finally! What took you guys so long? We have a case to solve, you know?! I wanna be home at six!"  
  
Genta told them annoyed. Lunchtime was at six. Shinichi and Ran grinned at each other but looked away again as an attempt to not laugh out loud. Conan walked over to the little boy and asked him a few questions and Ran was taken aside by Ayumi who had noticed them walking in hand in hand.  
  
"Ran, can I talk to you for a second?"  
  
"Sure!" Ran answered friendly as Ayumi lead her into a corner.  
  
Shinichi looked at them with concern. The last time Ayumi had a "talk" with her, Ran had told Shinichi that Conan had had a crush on her. Today he remembered that event with a smile but back then....too close.  
  
Seeing Ran blink confidently at him he grinned back at her and nooded, knowing she knew exactly what she was doing, then turned ,trusting her fully, his attention back to the investigations.  
  
"You seem very friendly with Conan...I mean Shinichi- Kun."  
  
"Oh yes. He`s very nice."  
  
"What is he to you?" Ayumi asked Ran, blushing.  
  
Ran looked at her surprised, then smiled.  
  
"I like Shinichi very much."  
  
Ran decided against telling her the whole truth. It would be no use to do so. She could not tell Ayumi how much she honestly and deeply loved him, or that he was her everything and her reason for being here. She would not understand it anyways, she was way too young for such things.  
  
Surprised she saw Ayumies eyes starting to wet.  
  
"Oh no Ayumi, don`t cry!"  
  
"But..but..i like him too and I am jealous! What am I going to do now?" she sobbed. Ran gently hugged her.  
  
"Calm down dear. That`s no problem. You can like him too. You should be happy! He likes you as a great friend and Genta, Mitsuhiko are crazy for you! You should be happy that you all have such a great relationship and like and trust each other so much."  
  
Ayumi looked puzzled at her, her tears eased a little.  
  
"But..." she started doubtfully but didn`t know how to end her sentence.  
  
"Wouldn`t it be sad for Shinichi- kun if he was supposed to like only one person? Just remember what it would be like alone, without them all. You can call yourself lucky for having such good friendships within the group. Don`t you think?"  
  
Ayumi sniffed, then looked at her shyly.  
  
"I guess you are right."  
  
"See! No reason to cry. Right now friendship is simply so much better and more important. And you are a pretty girl! You will certainly find one guy, someday, who belongs only to you. But you still have so much time."  
  
'And you`ll certainly won`t get mine!'  
  
Ayumi giggled at her naively.  
  
"You sound just like my mother. But you are right Ran- chan. Sorry for being jealous." She hugged Ran, then pulled back and smiled at her cheerly.  
  
"I really can call myself lucky to have such good friends. And now you belong to them to! I am so glad you are my friend too and a detective boy, ahm girl."  
  
They laughed.  
  
"Anyways, I am so glad you joined us."  
  
Looking over Ayumis shoulder at Shinichi`s feet which were peeping out of the bed and wriggling uncoordinately in every direction, Ran grinned inwardly and said to Ayumi absentmindly, with a smirk.  
  
"So am I...So am I..."  
  
"Come on, let`s go back to them! They may need help"  
  
"You are right!"  
  
Smiling the two girls went back to the others and as if to verify their suspection..  
  
"NO!!! THAT`S NOT TRUE!!" Genta shouted.  
  
"What`s wrong???" Everybody asked him.  
  
"LOOK OVER THERE!!" he pointed at a shelf, his hand shaking with exitement.  
  
"What`s supposed to be in there?" Mitsuhiko asked, raising an eyebrow!  
  
"Don`t you see??? He`s got the new Yaiba game for the Game boy!!! It`s out since at least one week! IT`S SOOO COOOLLLL!!!"  
  
Conan rolled his eyes and Ayumi and the other just laughed at Genta`s dreamy face. Genta reached for it but found the the box empty.  
  
"Oh man! It`s not here. How sad!" Genta murmured.  
  
Then suddenly it came to Shinichi.  
  
"IF he would have been kidnapped, he wouldn`t have taken his important things with him, right? He even got the Game boy with his new game, his wallet and it looks like a few things are missing from his closet too. That could mean he could have runned away. Oh look. This book here, it seems pretty new!"  
  
Conan picked up a book from the desk of Toki. He opened it and a piece of paper came out.  
  
"This is a hint! Look, it`s a receipt from a train ticket! It says he buyed it two weeks ago and the planfully depart was eight days ago....and it`s destination is...OSAKA!"  
  
Everybody looked at him with big eyes.  
  
"That could mean he really got not kidnapped?!" Ayumi said, thinking hard.  
  
"Right. Now the question is.. what would Toki want in Osaka?"  
  
"Maybe he had some business to do." Mitshiko told the others.  
  
"Maybe he got friends there he wanted to visit?" Ai guessed.  
  
"But what if he just likes to travel?"  
  
"Maybe he just wanted to try the Osaka cuisine?!" Genta thought loudly.  
  
Everybody glared at him sternly and he just shruggled his shoulders innocently.  
  
"Well we could go on guessing but that will take us nowhere. What we need are hints. Okay guys, here`s the plan. Genta and Ayumi, you go and interview the parents. Ask them about anything suspicious they may have noticed a week ago, maybe new friends of Toki or something. And if he had relatives or frieds in Osaka."  
  
"Alright!" Both said in unison and saluted fakely, then runned away.  
  
"And I thought I am the boss of the detective boys!"  
  
Conan heared Genta say laughing and had to shoke his head before turning back to the others.  
  
"Mitsuhiko and Ai, can you go and look in the living room, bathroom, kitchen for suspicious things? Search everything that could be usefull and then please interview his little brother. He may know more things about his brothers connections to Osaka or his friends there. Ran and I will look around his room properly once more and then we`ll come to join you."  
  
"Okay!" Ai said and turned, starting to walk away. She felt funny now that Ran was with them so much. She always had had this funny feeling about Ran. It was like as if she had to compete with her the whole time. To show her she was better, to show her she deserved him more than she does, to proof him she was a better match because they were connected somehow. But Ran didn`t seem to realize that. She had actually been really nice to Ai.  
  
'Maybe she is planning something? Well, now it`s too late. It was me after all who gave her the pill. I prooved that I am not afraid of competition. Like as if I have to proof anything..."  
  
"Sure thing!" Mitsuhiko joined her.  
  
Ran smiled. She had been observing Shinichi the whole time. It felt so familiar, seeing him talk like that.  
  
He finally turned to her and saw her smirk.  
  
"What?"  
  
She grinned even wider and couldn`t hide her giggles.  
  
"Noooooothing at all."  
  
He rolled his eyes, breathed something that sounded dangerously like 'Girls!' and turned around, going over the shelves, starting exermining. After a few moments she walked slowly to him and hugged him from behind, laying her hands on his chest and one on his tummy. He grinned and layed his own arms on her own.  
  
It was so great, being able to be so close to each other, without worries, whenever they felt like it.  
  
After a time standing like that she whispered.  
  
"Did anybody ever tell you how cute you look when you are thinking hard or investigating?"  
  
He swallowed, her breath on his neck making him shiver.  
  
"N-no, that`s a first."  
  
"Well, I definitly think so!" she said while rubbing her cheek against his.  
  
"You do?"  
  
"I do! I`ve always thought so. First time I noticed, was that time on the plane. Remember?"  
  
"Yeah!" he smiled at the memory.  
  
"It was so exiting, seeing you work so hard and determined on this case and solve it almost by yourself. You get then this glim in your eyes after finding out the truth, this confident and determined expression. And then you will start that grin of yours. That`s when I realized for the first time how cute and handsome you really are."  
  
"I..I never knew that."  
  
"I`ve never told you." She giggled.  
  
"I remember not being able to sleep in the plane because you were so close to me. You looked so sweet and adorable." He admitted.  
  
She pulled away and looked at him surpried, then slapped his arm lightly.  
  
"You idiot! And you told me I had a stupid funny expression while sleeping! You never told me!"  
  
He grinned at her, clearly guilty.  
  
"Well, you haaaaaadd!"  
  
"I HAD NOT!"  
  
"HAD HAD YEEES!" he continued teasing her.  
  
"And you DID behave like a baby after all. TS!" She said, acting mad and turned around, crossing her arms in front of her chest.  
  
Startled, she jumped a little as she felt a pair of lips kiss her neck from behind. She turned around and looked into his innocent face. He was facing away, looking, wanna be innocently, into the sky.  
  
She moved slowly to him and started tickling him. He jumped and began laughing very badly. She knew his weak spots by heart which made it hard for him to fight back. But he tried the best he could and like that the two found themselves on the floor, tickling each other like crazy, laughing, playing and teasing.  
  
After playing they were laying next to each other on the floor, panting heavely, trying to calm themselves down a little. It had been so much fun, playing with her. He had missed her so much, the way she could lighten his mood with a smile or a little gesture.  
  
And she had missed seeing him laugh the most.  
  
After about a minute like that, she slided over closer to him and layed her head on his chest, a hand was loosely placed over his stomach. She was curling herself close next to and on him. He put his arm around her and held her close, kissing the top of her head lovingly.  
  
"We should get up slowly. They`ll certainly come soon." He whispered after a while, trying not to break the mood.  
  
"Annoying little kiddies!" she breathed and heared him giggle.  
  
"Come on love, let`s look if they found anything." he nudged her gently to roll off him but she persisted.  
  
"Don`t wanna!" she murmured into his chest, clunging on to him more tightly.  
  
He smiled and his heart filled once again with a very warm feeling that spread through his whole body as he looked down at the girl cuddling on him. Never had he throught he could ever experience as much joy as this tiny girl brought to him. He felt absolutly content and happy. Maybe he would have start singing out loud for the whole world to hear it but he didn`t want to risc causing others broken glasses and earproblems.  
  
He held her closer. Never ever will he let her go again! Not for the world!  
  
~~~  
  
"Conan! I mean Shinichi, have you found anything?" Ayumi asked him as she entered the room of Toki.  
  
"Where are you?" she asked as she found nobody in the room.  
  
"Whe are here!" A voice from behind the bed called.  
  
Ayumi and Genta walked to the bed and looked at the other side. Ran and Shinichi were sitting on the floor, backs leaned against the bed and were looking through some books they had collected.  
  
"Have you guys found out anything?" he asked them with a smile. Ran looked up at them too.  
  
"Unfortunately not. His parents said they have no relatives in Osaka and the only thing that happened the last weeks was that they were arguing sometimes with him but they didn`t say why. What about you?"  
  
"Not really much." Ran answered.  
  
"Hopefully Ai and Mitsuhiko had more luck." Genta said.  
  
And soon enough, Ai and Mitsuhiko returned.  
  
"Found anything?"  
  
"Well, some of his things are gone, like toothbrush but nothing really suspicious. His little brother had no idea about Osaka..."Mitsuhiko started and Ai continued..  
  
"But we`ve found out that Toki had a big sister. We brought her here so she can tell us what she knows herself."  
  
A pretty girl came in. She was about one year older than Toki but she didn`t look like it. She was kinda petite, had a cute face and long brown hairs and she was smiling at them.  
  
"Hello! So you are investigating on my bro`s dissapearance? That`s really nice of you! Mitsuhiko and this girl asked me to answer some questions. I will do my best to help you, just ask me whatever you wanna know! I`ve brought you cookies! My name is Merar!"  
  
Suddenly Genta`s eyes started shining brightly. He muttered something like 'Oh I love her!' while running to them and had already a chocolate cookie in his mouth and was chewing happily, a content expression all over his face.  
  
"Hello!" Ran greeted her friendly and introduced the others.  
  
"So," Shinichi went on. "Do you have any idea why your parents fought with your brother? Or what his connection with Osaka is? Or where he is at all?"  
  
"Unfortunately I don`t! I have no idea where he is. After a big fight with our parents he just dissapeared! They had been fighting a lot recently. I think it`s because of his girlfriend who`s living away from Tokyo. Our parents say, she`s not the right one for him because he never introduced her to them properly."  
  
"I see! And what does Osaka have to do with that?" Shinichi asked further.  
  
"I don`t know. Why do you think Osaka must have to do something with the whole thing?"  
  
Ayumi explained her the connections and what they have already find out.  
  
"I am sorry, that`s all I know."  
  
"That`s okay. You helped us a lot, thank you!" Shinichi smiled at her.  
  
"Yes, thank you very much for your help Merar- chan!"  
  
"Oh dears, you are welcome! I hope you can find my brother! But be carefull!"  
  
"We will!"  
  
"And thanks for the cokkies!! They are great!" Genta said from behind them, his mouth full with cookies and his face covered in chocolate.  
  
Everybody had to laugh at the picture he made.  
  
"You are welcome dear. And by the way, the bathroom is down the floor, if you want to clean yourself a little or something." She said smiling and Genta simply smiled back.  
  
"I gotta go cook. Take care!"  
  
"You too, thaaankss." The said in unison and bowed.  
  
"What a nice girl!" Ran said.  
  
"Yep. And now we know at least the reason they fought the day he dissapeared." Shinichi said.  
  
"Didn`t you find anything?" Mitsuhiko asked them.  
  
"We did, one thing." Shinichi went to the bed and picked up a map. Opening it he showed the map the others.  
  
"Do you see that?" It was a map of Osaka and he was pointing at a some part in particular.  
  
"Hai!"  
  
There was a building, marked with a yellow color.  
  
"I guess we have a start. We have an adress!" Shinichi said.  
  
"So, what are we going to do now?" Mitsuhiko asked.  
  
Ayumi and Genta grinned at Mitsuhiko and after a second he grinned back. Shinichi felt starnge. He knew this grin and sure enough...  
  
"WE`RE GOING TO OSAKA!!!!!" the three screamed and Shinichi almost tripped over.  
  
'I knew it!'  
  
Ran smiled at him. He looked at her and the warm feeling returned. He knew it didn`t matter. Why not go to Osaka? As long as she was with him he would go to the end of the world and back again.  
  
The Detective Boys started walking out of the room and he followed. All of a sudden he felt some hands on his sides, scrapeng him lightly and he jumped a little surprised. He turned and looked into the smiling face of Ran who was blinking at him. He smiled back at her and once again took her hand gently.  
  
'That`s right! It doesn`t matter where, it just matters that she is there, with me. Oh yeah, life is going to be so much more interesting from now on!'  
  
The end 


	4. Epilogue

~Epiloque~  
  
Of course the Detective Boys went to Osaka. They managed to solve the case which turned out to be harder and more ensnared than it seemed at the first look, but they managed to solve this one too. Like the many others that followed.  
  
Ran and Shinichi went to visit Heiji and Kazuha, since they were in Osaka anyways. Kazuha had been so shocked, not sure if it had been indeed Ran.  
  
The two had to explain them everything.  
  
In turn, Kazuha and Heiji had to tell the other couple what was now going on with them.  
  
Like he had intended, Heiji had confessed his love for her after the big show down and she had returned his feelings. Nevertheless, their behaviour had barly changed which was very amusing to watch for Shinichi and Ran.  
  
They had argued and had teased each other the whole time like they always have, but afterwards he would gently take her hand and look lovingly at her. She would blush and smile at him shyly, their fight already long forgotten.  
  
Shinichi would look at the smiling Ran and her gaze told him something like  
  
'I`ve known it anyways' and he would nod and take her hand.  
  
The next day they all went back home, happy about the solved case. Many many cases followed, and many mysteries and problems, but together they overcome everything. Because they had each other.  
  
The years passed, the cases passed, the Detective Boys grew and slowly everthing changed.  
  
Ai had left for the US where she began to study again. She barly contacts her former friends but there are rumours that she joined the FBI.  
  
Genta became a famous cook and married Ayumi. The are happily married, share a big house and have two little children. A girl and a boy.  
  
Mitsuhiko had become a great photographist and is wanted and famous all over the country. He had married a nice girl who he has three little kids with.  
  
Kogoro recovered from his injuries and he and Eri married again. Today they live very happy together in Eri`s house. Korogo had turned into a good husband at least (with a little help from his wife).  
  
Sonoko had moved into a huge villa in the USA together with Makoto where she, soon after, married him. She had become his manager as long as Makoto fought tournaments. After his career, he opened a Karate school together with Sonoko. They have a little girl together.  
  
Sonoko had taken the news about Ran`s turning easy, since she always knew her best friends feelings for the detective and that Ran will definitly be with him together! Today Ran visits her sometimes and so does Sonoko. They are still very good friends.  
  
Heiji became a great detective and worked together with Kazuha who worked the police department. Together they solved a great deal of mysteries and became famous as the invincible couple. They are still very happy together. Shinichi and Ran went to their wedding and a year later Kazuha gave birth to a beautiful son. Two sons and a girl followed over the following years.  
  
Kaito did as he said and confessed his feeelings for Aoko. She had been more than happy and accepted his proposal. They married and after the wedding they made a world journey. In his free time Kaito plays the magician for little orphans and sick children. Sometimes he helps the police out. Soon after the world journey, he and Aoko were blessed with a beautiful daughter and a handsome boy.  
  
As for Shinichi and Ran... those two moved in together as soon as it was possible. They had been still very very young but that never mattered to them. Very young Shinichi became famous as the smartest and youngest detective in history and he still solves a lot of cases. Ran was always by his side, giving him advice, hold and cheering him. Their love grew day by day.  
  
They have still very good contacts with all their friends and went to all their weddings. In the young age such as 18, they finally made the step and got married, with their families and all their friends. It had been a great and huge ceremony and it had been as Ran had always dreamed of. Just perfect! With that all of her dreams came true.  
  
Years after that, they are in love just like on the first day and their bliss got perfect, as Ran one mornings in bed as she was laying in his arms, lovingly told Shinichi that he was going to be a father. Overwhelmed with emotions he had taken her into his arms and kissed her gently. Laying a hand on her tummy he confessed his neverending love for her and thanked her for making all his dreams come true.  
  
After their son, another son and two girl followed and blessed their little family with laugher and even more love. They are living happily in the huge mansion, which still stands in Tokyo.  
  
One night, Shinichi and Ran were standing on the balcony, looking at the stars, the kids finally asleep. He had her tenderly in his arms from behind and she was laying her head comfortable on his solid chest.  
  
He gently kissed her neck and she smiled.  
  
"I love you Ran!" he whispered into her ear. "Even after over 30 years of being married, you are still the most beautiful sight I was ever allowed to lay my eyes on. You still make me the most happiest man alive!"  
  
She closed her eyes and enjoys the feeling his words made her feel untill she whispered back with a slight grin.  
  
"Will you still say that even after another 30 years? When I am old and ugly and full of wrinkles?"  
  
He grinned.  
  
"Yep!"  
  
She pinched him lightly on his arm, laughing gently. Then she moved a hand up and lowered his face to hers, giving him a sweet and deep kiss.  
  
"I love you too, Shinichi!" she whispered back after pulling away, looking into his kind eyes.  
  
He felt her shudder a little at the cool breeze and drew her into his arm more tightly. They went back to watching the stars.  
  
"Look!" he said suddenly, pointing a hand up at the sky. A shooting star was moving in between the other stars. "Make a wish!"  
  
They closed their eyes.  
  
"What did you wish?" he asked her after a while.  
  
"Nothing. I am absolutly happy and content with my life as it is. I don`t need anything else."  
  
He smiled at her and held her closer. Sometimes it was almost like as if she could read his thoughts. But then...hadn`t it always been like that?  
  
"And you?" she asked him quietly, looking at the stars. It seemed like as if he wouldn`t answer anymore but then he finally did.  
  
"The same!"  
  
The words sunk in her mind and she smiled. He had again stolen her thoughts. He always did that and he always had.  
  
"Oh Shinichi, is that the truth?" she turned and wound her arms around his neck. He had his own rested on her hips.  
  
"There is always only one truth!"  
  
She looked for a second deep into his eyes and drew his head down to hers again, gifting him with a tender kiss in which she put all her emotions in and he returned it equally, letting himself be absorbed in this one kiss, sighing contently.  
  
'No, we really are happy they way everything is now. It`s just perfect!' both thought. 


End file.
